Ghost Boy is a spectacular triumph of a memoir, almost as inspiring as its subject, Martin Pistorius. As a teen, Martin fell ill with a still-undiagnosed disease, losing control of his body and the ability to speak. For nine years he was trapped in his shell of a body, unable to communicate or move, until a carer, Virna, talked his parents into testing him with a device that allowed him to communicate via eye movements. Over the next few years, Martin gradually learned to communicate with the outside world, improving to the extent that he could hold down a job, write this memoir, and even woo and win the heart of his now-wife, Joanna.

If you're feeling the weight of the world, read this book. I came away from Martin's story absolutely inspired. If Martin could overcome the challenges in his life, certainly I can conquer the much less severe challenges in my own life. Martin's story is heartbreaking, beautiful, and uplifting all at the same time. Everyone should read it.

Rod Raglin is a journalist/photographer/writer living on the west coast of Canada. He is author of the five novels; THE BIG PICTURE - A Camera, A Young Woman, An Uncompromising Ethic, FOREST - Love, Loss, Legend, and the series ECO-WARRORS that includes SPIRIT BEAR, EAGLERIDGE BLUFFS, and NOT WONDER MORE - Mad Maggie and the Mystery of the Ancients.

Someone one wise once said: There is no right way to write. So true. But we all want to do it the right way, right?

Rod decided to share his writing process secrets in this little piece about his personal writing experiences with some essential tips & tricks that may come in handy not only for writers but also readers and reviewers. Enjoy!

What you’ve accomplished is significant and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. How many people do you know who have spent countless hours by themselves sitting in front of a keyboard creating an imaginary world?

It’s only a matter of time before your creation changes your life, and that can’t happen too soon. What are you waiting for? It’s time to start submitting it to all those fortunate agents and publishers you’ve selected, right?

Wrong.

I was once like you, full of enthusiasm and hubris upon completing my first novel. To get my masterpiece published I pulled in all my favours, two actually. I had an acquaintance who knew Jeffrey Archer personally (yes, that Jeffrey Archer), and I had a business associate who was an editor in a well-respected publishing firm.

The first response came from Archer’s agent. She suggested I take some writing courses. A little while later the editor returned my manuscript. She’d taken the time to line edit the first chapter complete with margin notes. Suffice to say the editing notes all but obscured the original text.

At the time I didn’t realize it, but I had just blown two really good opportunities in my rush to get published. That manuscript is still buried somewhere in my filing cabinet. I’m too embarrassed to look at it.

Most recently I’ve taken on writing and and doing video book reviews* of the work of new, self-published authors.

I’ve written a lot of book reviews, but in this category – new, self-published authors the average star rating is 2.8, a bit better than I didn’t like it, but not quite as good as I liked it.

A few of these authors are brilliant, but most, though they have potential, are hampered by lack of craft. If they continue writing and reading I know they’ll improve. Writing is like most things – the more you do it the better you get.

I have to add a caveat to that statement. Your writing will improve if you continue to do it while seeking out constructive criticism and taking it to heart.

Most of the novels I’m giving two stars to have been rushed into publication. I know you’re excited, but remember – it’s never as good as you think it is, and it can always be better. Yes, always.

Here are some suggestions you might want to consider when you’ve completed your novel. It’s what I do and though it hasn’t garnered me success, it’s at least saved me further embarrassment.

- I revise the manuscript a minimum three times or until I feel it’s finished.- I read it out loud (it drives my cat crazy).- Then I put it away for at least three months or however long it takes to get it out of my system.- While I’m waiting to be purged, I work on something completely different.- Once I’ve put some distance between my ego and the book, I’m ready. I take out the manuscript and send it to as many beta readers for comment as I can. If you don’t have a stable of readers who are free from conflict of interest – that means no family and no friends, join a writing group, online or otherwise, and workshop the novel.

Once I’ve decided it’s time for the final rewrite I gather all the comments and criticisms together and begin.

When I’m finished I have another decision to make. Do I begin the traditional submission process or save myself a lot of time and frustration and go directly to self-publishing?

If you follow this method I guarantee your final version will be different and better than it was when you deemed it complete. And if someone does recommend your book to Oprah or the New York Times decides to review it, it will be perfect – or as perfect as you could make it.

This blog will touch on the experiences I have as a writer (not to be mistaken for my experience as a writer, i.e. how many books I've written, etc); the pleasure and the pain, the joy and the grief, the satisfaction and the frustration, the magic and the reality - have I left anything out, oh yeah, the rejection, rejection and more rejection, the humiliation and the embarrassment, the jealousy and the resentment - that pretty much covers it, except for why I do it which perhaps I'll realize along the way. Are you totally confused? Good, let's begin... Go to Rod's blog ->

"Dad was very aware of each step in his journey to a "bigger world," as he called it. . . there was that one high school teacher who Dad recalled with tears. She had "opened all the doors" for him by encouraging him to start to read books for pleasure. She "opened my eyes," as Dad would say. And years later, my father tracked her down and wrote to her, and remarkably she was still alive, and in 1968 (or thereabouts) Dad sent her a signed copy of his first book, Escape from Reason, and a letter telling her that she was why he had "done anything" with his life."

" . . . Bryan Stevenson took home the Carnegie Medal in nonfiction for Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Spiegel & Grau). And he gave a timely acceptance speech that had many librarians in attendance buzzing about the best book award acceptance speech they'd ever heard."

i read the book in June (based on the recommendation of Somebody here on BL -- I would love to remember who), and it was an outstanding and thought-provoking read.

Here's one paragraph from Mr. Stevenson's speech:

"I wrote this book because I was persuaded that if people saw what I see, they would insist on something different. And that's what's powerful about books. That's what great about the library. Getting people closer to worlds and situations that they can't otherwise know and understand. I think there's real power in that. And that's what books can do."

I found this picture from Pinterest but further investigation took me to activityvillage.co.uk which has some interesting knowledge about the slat books, and an easy guide to making yourself one of these awesome motherfuckers.

"[My mother] was a stickler for good grammar. I remember that she'd bristle whenever someone misused the subjunctive tense. "If I were," she'd shout when someone incorrectly said "If I was.""

Page 20 and 21 of Condoleezza Rice's memoir, Extraordinary, Ordinary People. I find this quote hysterical because the subjunctive is a mood, not a tense. Rice's mother would no doubt be less amused than I.